Operators of weekend passenger service to Orotina and Caldera have
some great plans to rescue train travel and restore the thrill for future
generations.

See storyBELOW

A.M. Costa Rica photo

Long-time sports bar, Tiny's, sold and closed

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

A long-time downtown fixture, Tiny’s Tropical Sports Bar, has been sold
and probably will become a Chinese restaurant, said the former owner, himself
a fixture in San José.

The deal was concluded over the last two weeks. Tiny’s was the
original sports bar in San José and opened in 1988, said the owner.
He only goes by the name Tiny and said that he is headed for Florida in
the next two weeks.

Tiny blamed changes in patterns of tourism for the reduction in business
that he said has taken place in the downtown. For a long time his bar had
not been the scene of bustling

activity it once was. Now it is closed
and padlocked awaiting the new owner.

"Tourism has changed. . . new people are not drinking, and people coming
to town are on a pre-paid deal," said Tiny in a telephone interview. He
said he didn’t think that deterioration in the properties nearby had affected
his business.

Fire destroyed the corner building to the east at Avenida 2 and Calle
11 about five years ago, and the burned out walls still stand.

The area is getting an upgrade with some new construction taking place
nearby.

"The era’s done and so am I," said Tiny.

Time for a serious chat about what to do on Thursday

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

O.K., guys. You have been warned. Thursday is St. Valentine’s Day, a
time that can make or break a relationship.

A little creativity here goes a long way. Remember all those empty beer
cans after Sunday football? Remember that pass you made at the cute Tica
at the neighbor’s cocktail party. You may not, but SHE does. Women who
can’t keep track of a grocery list somehow manage to keep infinitely detailed
mental notes of their guy’s stupidities.

But like the Sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church, St. Valentine’s
day, if handled well, can wash away your sins. Costa Rica is perfect for
such sinners. A big bunch of long-stemmed roses can be had for a few thousand
colons. Imported and exotic chocolates can be had easily on the sidestreets
of the downtown pedestrian mall.

A great gift would be a full-body massage, easily available not just
in San José but in the mountains and at the shore. This is a good
gift. A membership in a health club is a bad gift on this day for lovers.

Dinner would be great. You have your favorite place. If you are new
to town, consider Rancho Guanacaste, on the southside, where strolling
mariachis will entertain all night.

If you were really bad this year, consider taking your lady on a romantic
evening cruise under the stars and a casual elegant candle-lit dinner.
Calypso Tours has a $100 per person trip scheduled aboard the 70-foot Catamaran
Manta Raya. The destination is
Punta Coral, a private reserve, only accessible by water, in the Gulf
of Nicoya.

As an alternative, consider one of the many overlooks or miradors around
the Central Valley where you can get dinner and a spectacular view of the
city. One suggestion might be Restaurant El Bosque that clings to the side
of the main road just north of Naranjo. There’s even a telescope there.

If you have the whole day Feb. 14 and part of Feb. 15, you can run up
relationship karma with a quick trip to Los Lagos, Tabacón, Arenal
Paraíso or any of the other thermal pool resorts at the base of
the volcano west of La Fortuna. If that is too far, nearly everyone in
Costa Rica lives within easy driving distance of a major resort. Who says
you can’t stay for just one night.

If you have been really bad, it’s time to throw in a massage, the flowers,
exotic candy and a romantic serenade along with the hot water. Don’t forget
dancing. Woman love guys who at least try.

Have any ideas for a romantic St. Valentine’s Day? Send them in an we’ll
publish them for the Thursday newspaper, just in time to help out some
poor guy who needs suggestions:

Bernald Hernández, an assistant manager, and Juan Paniagua, general
manager, discuss the paneling and decor of one of the more luxurious of
the 1941 rail cars.

By Jay Brodelleditor of A.M. Costa Rica

Passenger trains are rolling down the track to the Pacific again, but
only on the weekends in what is developing as a major tourist attraction.

More than 3,000 persons have taken the weekend excursions, and promoters
already are thinking about expansion.

The operation is by AmericaTravel which put the first Tico Train on
the Pacific line last September and started operations in earnest Dec.
29. The private company now has offices in the cavernous Ferrocarril al
Pacifico Terminal in southwest San José on Avenida 18 between Calle
2 and 4

The employees’ avowed purpose, in addition to making money, is to rescue
the train. They have plenty to work with. The cars they use are only a
small number of the available rolling stock at what amounts to a railroad
graveyard nearby.

Freight traffic on the line carries steel and other products from the
Caldera docks on the gulf of Nicoya to industries in Pavas and San José
at least several times a day. Regular passenger service from San José
to Caldera and Puntarenas stopped 12 to 15 years ago. The line was electrified
then. Today the work is done by diesel locomotives.

The route is very scenic and contains spectacular bridges and mountain
views.

Passengers actually have two choices, according to Juan Paniagua, general
manager:

The Tico Train is designed for tourists and it has a bit more luxury.
It leaves Saturday and Sunday from Santa Ana at 7 a.m. for Orotina where
tours and trips are available for passengers. Orotina is inland and about
25 kms. south and east of Caldera. The 13-hour tour costs from $59 to $79,
depending on the type of destination activities passengers choose.

The "Popular" trip is designed for Costa Ricans, leaves from San José
at 6 a.m. and goes all the way to Caldera where some passengers swim. The
price is a modest 4,000 colons ($11.60) for citizens and residents. Tourists
pay $25.

The rail cars include some 1941 German wagons that transport the traveler
back in time as well as geographically. Each car has been redone, and one
flatbed has been redone with a Coca Cola motif as an open observation car
for the Tico Train tourists. Sometimes travelers dance during the trip,
said Paniagua.

One rule is that no alcohol is available on the trip, said the general
manager. Some residents take beer and other alcohol for use on the beach
in Caldera, but consumption is prohibited on the train, he said.

"We need people to know that the train is active again," he said. some
wondered last weekend when the Instituto Nacional de Ferrocarriles asked
Paniagua and his staff not to make passenger runs because of a dispute
with the governmental agency that establishes rates for public services.
The train is back in business for this weekend, he said.

Some 10 persons are employed by the company and most have ownership
interests, said Paniagua, who speaks good English.

Plans include trying to open the last 20 kms. from Caldera to Puntarenas,
the site of a proposed aquarium and ocean park. The problem is that some
parts of the track have been removed, and about 100 million colons (about
$290,000) is needed to get the tracks in shape, said the manager. A meeting
on this project will be next week. He envisions the train running right
into the middle of the proposed park.

A second tourist line is being considered for the Atlantic side. There
is no train service from San José through the mountains and the
rugged Braulio Carrillo National Park. But Paniagua toured the trackage
from south of Limón to Siquirres recently in a motorized handcar
and pronounced that route to be in excellent condition.

He also said the 62 kms. from Limón and the 23 kms, south of
the Caribbean port city are spectacular in tourist value. He said he hopes
to start some type of tourist trip there in October.

There also is the start of a train museum at the terminal. However,
the artifacts are crowded into one room. Paniagua sees it as his mission
to do something about creating a museum, he said.

For him, the train is the finalization of a dream and the capstone to
his 18 years in tourism. As a young resident of Orotina, he said he often
heard his father talk about seeing the passenger trains running again.
Finally, a few weeks ago, both his mother and father had a chance to experience
the reality of train travel amid tears of joy, he said.

AmericaTravel can be reached at 233-3300 or at americatravel@msn.com
The original ticket window in the terminal is used for dispensing tickets,
all of which are for reserved seating.

A.M. Costa Rica photo

Cars used in the operation await weekend duty
outside the Pacific terminal

U.S. trade official pushes privatization and liberalization

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Latin American nations must continue to make economic
reforms, privatize their economies, and push for trade liberalization in
order to improve the lot of their citizens, because halting, halfway measures
are doomed to fail, says U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

In remarks at the Organization of American States in which he gave an
overview of economic and trade issues in the region, Zoellick singled out
Mexico and Chile as countries that have achieved greater prosperity in
the last decade because they "courageously" adopted economic reforms within
the "framework of democracy."

Countries "encounter the greatest difficulty if they only proceed halfway"
with economic reforms, Zoellick told a packed audience at the OAS art museum.
He compared economic success to someone making it across a bridge, saying
"the absolute worst thing to do is stop halfway across the bridge ... those
who stop on the bridge and look back, or look up or ponder the situation
need to know that the only way they're going to ... reach the other end
is to maintain the forward momentum."

"Retreating inward will not work," Zoellick declared. He said that "protectionism
and populism" are losing propositions for the economy, adding that the
United States is committed to pursuing the proposed Free Trade Area of
the Americas, which would establish a free-trade zone throughout the Western
Hemisphere. He said the Bush

Administration is working towards
a bilateral free-trade agreement with Chile, "extension and expansion"
of the Andean Trade Preference Act, and continuation of global trade talks
launched at the November 2001 World Trade Organization meeting in Doha,
Qatar.

Zoellick cited a number of statistics to show that while Latin America
is struggling in the global economic slowdown, the situation is markedly
better than in the region's so-called "lost decade" of the 1980s. For instance,
he said inflation is down from an average of 500 percent in 1990 to seven
percent in 2001. Zoellick called inflation "a sore that eventually undercuts
the very fabric of society."

The trade official also argued that the shift toward privatization from
state-owned enterprise is producing benefits for the Latin American population.
Privatization, especially in utilities, has paid off in terms of better
services, increased investment flows, and enhanced efficiency, Zoellick
said.

Thanks to privatization, he said, "we're now in a world in Brazil, for
example, where consumers can get a new phone line in a matter of a day
or two, where it used to be a year or two."

One problem people are often reluctant to talk about is corruption,
Zoellick said. Corruption is more than a tax on the economic health of
a nation, he pointed out, because "it erodes public trust, it erodes a
sense of public involvement, and that means it erodes a sense of public
responsibility." Zoellick called on those in positions of authority to
support anti-corruption measures. A failure to wipe out corruption will
have negative political, economic and social consequences for a country,
he indicated.

Three held in deathof retired policeman

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Investigators in Puntarenas have arrested three men in the death of
U.S. citizen Brian Carter, 67, who died of stab wounds last Wednesday.

They are Marne Bejarano Godinez, 35, and Jerson Lorenzo Delgado Vargas,
20, who were arrrested Friday, and Mauricio José Chavarría
Mora, 32, who was arrested over the weekend, according to the Judical Investigating
Organization.

Carter, identified by police as a retired Detroit, Mich., police officer,
confronted the three men at his home where he suffered the two stab wounds.
The assailants took Carter’s VCR, police said at the time.

FBI says Yemeniplanning terror

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is urging police and the American
public to be on the lookout for a man from Yemen and several associates
believed planning to carry out a terrorist attack against the United States
as early as today.

The alert released late Monday identifies the Yemeni national as Fawaz
Yahya al-Rabeei, who was born in Saudi Arabia in 1979. The warning says
there is no evidence that he has already entered the United States. But
the FBI says it will put pictures of Rabeei and his associates on its Internet
Web site to help Americans identify them.

The FBI says the warning is based on credible intelligence, but it did
not list a specific possible target, except to say it could be domestic
or a U.S. interest in Yemen.

The FBI says the alert is based on information gathered from interviews
of al-Qaida detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

10 soldiers killedby mortar round

By A.M Costa Rica wire services

BOGOTA, Colombia — At least 10 soldiers are dead after leftist rebels
fired a dynamite- and shrapnel-filled canister into military barracks in
southern Colombia, officials said.

Authorities say at least seven people suffered serious injuries from
the attack Monday in Pitalito, about 350 kilometers southwest of here.
Thirty others were slightly injured.

Officials say the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia launched the
homemade mortar before dawn from a pickup truck parked about 600 yards
from the unit.

Authorities say the device landed in the barracks while the soldiers
slept. The explosion set off a fire that caused considerable damage. The
attack comes two weeks after 29 soldiers were killed in an explosion while
storming a house used by the rebels to store dynamite. It is unclear whether
the blast was accidental or intentional.

Colombia is involved in a 38-year-long civil war.

Argentine touriststotals to decline

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The economic woes of Argentina will have some effect here in Costa Rica
because more than 16,000 tourists came from that country last year, according
to figures maintained by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute.

That was about 1.5 percent of the total tourists, and officials were
hoping that Latin American, which had shown a 9.3 percent increase in tourism
from 2000 to 2001 would be a bright spot this year.

The problem in Argentina is that the country has defaulted on its $141
billion international debt, bank accounts are frozen and citizens are being
forced to accept the now free-floating peso in exchange for the U.S. dollars
they have deposited in their bank accounts. The peso loses value
each day and has lost about 50 percent of its value in the last few weeks.

Chile sent about 7,000 tourists to Costa Rica last year, according to
the toruism institute, and that country is being buffeted by what is going
on in Argentina. For one thing, Chile earns lots of tourism income from
Argentina, money that is slowing to a trickle. In all, South America contributed
about 104,000 tourists to the Costa Rican totals in 2001, about 10 percent
of the 1,131,000 persons who entered the country listed as tourists.

There are some problems in interpreting the tourism institute figures,
not the least of which are the totals that show 171,000 "tourists" from
Nicaragua and lesser numbers for other economically strapped Central American
nations. Colombia contributed 47,000 "tourists," according to the figures
released last month.

Meanwhile, the peso has closed stronger than expected on the first day
in 11 years it freely floated on currency exchange markets, according to
A.M. Costa Rica wire services. In early trading Monday, the currency fell
to 2.30 to the U.S. dollar, but rebounded to end the day near two pesos.

Except for Argentina,Latins lands did ‘well’

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The economies of Latin America, with the notable
exception of the Argentine economy, did "quite well" in 2001 in averting
domestic crisis despite an adverse international economic environment,
says a new report by the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean.

Inflation in the region continued to abate, and the increase in the
external deficit was fairly small, according to the 111-page report. However,
the report said the severe slowdown in the world economy in 2001, made
worse by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, "cut
short the recovery that had begun in 2000 and dashed hopes" that the region
was about to embark upon a new growth cycle.

The report, which offers a breakdown of economic conditions in each
country of the region, said growth prospects for 2002 are "not promising"
at 1.1 percent, compared to earlier projections of a growth rate of 1.5
to 2 percent.